Recipe of the week: Oreo Cheesecake

Cheesecake is by far my favorite type of cake. You can play around with flavours, add cookies, nuts or chocolate to the batter and change up the crust to serve all year round. But, how many times have you made a cheesecake that was hard and dense, with large cracks on top that you wondered how to cover them up? Well, after 20 years of baking, I finally found the secret to making a cheesecake that was so silky, smooth and crack-free that it resembled cutting through soft butter: a bain-marie! For the novice bakers, a bain-marie is the French term for a water-bath. This method is commonly used to make custards, souffles and creme caramel (or flan), so I adopted it to my cheesecake and voila! True indulgence! Do not, and I repeat, do not use light cream cheese as you will not get the true silkiness or flavour needed. Instead, just eat a sliver, or burn the extra calories washing the dishes that your guests will use once they polish off their plates!

Picture courtesy of kraftfoods.com

Oreo New York-style Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/4 cups Oreo crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter

Batter:

4 pkgs Philadelphia regular cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 cup regular sour cream                                         

2 tsp. vanilla extract

10 oreo cookies, broken in large pieces

Preheat oven to 350 F. For crust, combine crumbs with butter until combined. Press along bottom and up sides of springform pan. Do not bake. Cover bottom of pan with aluminum foil and set aside.

Boil a large pot of water (or a tea kettle) while preparing the batter. Beat cream cheese with flat beater (do not overmix). Add sugar and mix until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Add sour cream, vanilla and oreos until just combined. Pour into prepared crust and put pan in a larger casserole or roasting pan. Pour water in this pan until halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake for 1 hour or until just set (middle of the cake will still jiggle when shaken). Allow to cool on baking rack to room temperature before refrigerating. Top with more Oreos!